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More than Just a Stove

For over 25 years, weâve been designing a better way to cook outdoors. Over all this time, weâve made a huge variety of outdoor cooking gear. But our staple product from the start has been our propane camp stoves. Obviously, their rugged, durable design has a lot to do with their popularity; other features like powerful burners, removable legs, and matchless ignition have also had a hand in keeping our classic stoves at the top of the industry. However, there is one thing about our stoves that truly steals the show: they arenât stoves.

Okay, so they are stoves in the literal sense. But they arenât just stoves. We created the stove system to fulfill all of your outdoor cooking needs. Our armada of accessories alongside each of our stoves makes it so that you can enjoy all your favorite meals outdoors just as easily as you enjoy them indoorsâall one cooker. How does that work? Let us explain.

Choose Your System

At Camp Chef, we have two separateÂ cooking systems: 14-inch and 16-inch. You will often see these numbers on our stoves and accessories to show you to which system each product belongs. The measurements refer to the depth of the stove (front to back). Our 14-inch system includes mainly two-burner stoves and accessories with a 14-inch depth; our 16-inch system includes mainly three-burner stoves and accessories with a 16-inch depth. Starting to make sense?

Now, why the different systems? One of our priorities at Camp Chef is offering you a better way to cook where and what you want, for however many people you have in your group. Some outdoor chefs like to keep things simple with two burners and two accessories, or a single large accessory. On the other hand, many others love having a third burner for an extra accessory to open up their cooking options.

Mix and Match Accessories

After youâve decided on the size of your system, itâs time to add your choice of stove accessories. To give you the freedom to cook what you want, we offer a variety of accessories, including BBQ boxes, outdoor ovens, griddles, Dutch ovens, skillets, and more.

Our professional grill boxes are awesome for grilling veggies, kabobs, burgers, brats, and more. They feature cast iron grill grates, so you can even sear your meat.

As you might expect, our outdoor ovens are perfect for baking pizza wherever you go. However, you can also bake cookies, brownies, open-faced sandwiches, and even meat.

Our griddles come pre-seasoned, so theyâre ready to cook as soon as you are. They are among the most versatile of cooking accessories. You can make bacon, stir fry, eggs, pancakes, burgers, and more all on one surface.

Dutch ovens and skilletsâor any of our other cast iron accessoriesâare the Swiss army knife of your stovetop accessories. They can do so much. Baking, frying, searingâ¦the list goes on. All of our cast iron pieces are pre-seasoned, so thereâs no hassle after you take it out of the box.

By mixing and matching all of these products, there is almost no limit to what you can make for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Seriously. Imagine bacon and eggs in the morning, pizza at lunch, and philly cheese steak sandwiches for dinnerâall from a single stove.

Thatâs what our stove systems are all about.

Cook What You Want

With so much cooking power and flexibility, you can cook what you love to eat no matter where you are. Weâve compiled a small list of our top recipe picks, all of which you can make using you 14-inch or 16-inch system. If you have other ideas, let us know in the comments.

Griddle Care & Maintenance

Most of our professional griddles come with a True-Seasoned Finish, just like all of our cast iron. To keep this finish in tip-top condition, your griddle needs a little TLC every now and then. By following the guide below, you will help keep your griddle clean, prevent rust, and build up the glass-like finish to keep food from sticking.

Temperature Management

Giving your griddle time to pre-heat properly will ensure youâre getting the best cooking performance possible. Start by setting your heat to Medium or Med-Low for about 5 minutes. This should bring the griddle surface temperature to about 350Â°-400Â° F, depending on the weather and environment. Then turn the heat to Med-Low or Low for 2-3 minutes for uniform heat across the entire cooking surface. The steel heats up quickly but cools slowly, so youâll have plenty of heat to work with even after you turn down the burners. Youâre ready to get cooking.

Managing the heat on your griddle is important to prevent any possible damage. While the steel is strong and durable, you should only use Low or Medium heat settings. This is especially important if you want to use different heat settings on a large griddle that covers multiple burners. You have the capability to warm a tortilla on one side and cook a fajita mix on the other, but you want to keep both settings on Medium or lower.

Cleaning

After each use, clean off any food particles while the griddle is still warm. You might want to use aÂ metal spatula or chain mail scrubber to remove stubborn bits. Then wash with hot water, mild dish soap (never use abrasive detergent), or our Cast Iron Cleaner. Rinse and dry thoroughly. Never scour or use a dishwasher, as this could chip the nice, seasoned finish youâre going for.

Seasoning

Once your griddle is clean, slowly warm it up again on your stove. Apply a thin layer of Cast Iron Conditioner or cooking oil. We recommend Cast Iron Conditioner because it has a palm oil base, which boastsÂ a longer shelf life than any other natural oil. Be sure that the entire surface, including all corners, have been coated thoroughly. This will ensure that all surfaces of your cookware will be properly seasoned. This finish helps protect the steel or cast iron from rust and contributes to a nonstick cooking surface. Let your griddle cool, then wipe off excess conditioner or oil with a clean cloth.

Storage

After your griddle is clean, dry, and seasoned, you will need to store it in a dry, clean area. You can use one of our carry bags, specifically designed to hold your professional griddle. If you store it in one of these bags long-term, leave the zipper open 2-4 inches so the metal doesnât âsweat.â This will prevent rusting.

Pro Tips

â¢ Be sure that your griddle is level before cooking, so that any juices or grease will drain properly. To test your griddleâs angle, pour a cup of water on the corner farthest from the grease drain and see where it flows.

What in the World is a BTU?

If youâve checked out any of our stoves, youâve probably seen a BTU figure associated with each one. And if youâre here at this article, you probably looked at it and had no clue what it meant. Let us explain it to you.
BTU stands for British Thermal Unit. It is used in North America (not in Europe, despite the name) as a way to measure energy output. A single BTU is equal to the energy released by burning one match. To put things in perspective, your household stove burners are probably around 10,000 BTUsâthatâs like burning 10,000 matches at once.

How Many BTUs Do I Need?

For basic outdoor cooking and groups of only a few people, youâll need a stove that has an output of at least 10,000 BTU per hour. Matching your kitchen stove in power, youâll be able to cook pretty much anything youâd whip up indoors. This is the minimum amount of heat you should have with your camp stove.

But why settle for the minimum? Most of our stoves feature burners with an output of 30,000 BTU/hr each. Thatâs 3 times more than your kitchen burners. Our double burner and triple burner stoves with this kind of cooking power are perfect for families and larger groups because you have the heat and surface area you need to cook a ton of food. Pro tip: these burners are also great for home canning.

We also carry a couple of high-output stoves with burners that can pump out 60,000 BTU/hr. Thatâs a ton of power. In fact, thatâs more than you would ever need for basic outdoor cooking. These stoves are best for specialty situations like home brewing, high capacity boiling, and extreme cold temperatures. You should only use heavy duty pots with a 60,000 BTU burner rather than accessories like our grill boxes, griddles, or pizza ovens. The high heat output can warp and burn out some of these more lightweight materials.

Check out our infographic for a quick look at how many BTUs you need for your outdoor adventures.

When you see video of kayakers plunging over giant waterfalls, skiers flying down Alaskan mountains, and rock climbers navigating cliffs larger than sky scrapers, the chances are pretty high that the footage was shot by the award winning adventure film makers at Camp 4 Collective.

Camp Chef is The Way to Cook Outdoors. Camp Chef stoves are versatile cooking systems that can be fully customized to allow for a wide range of cooking styles. Grill, griddle, boil, or fry â it can all be done on a Camp Chef.

The outdoor cooking innovators at Camp Chef have once again raised the bar on griddles. The first and only company to have True Seasoned steel griddles has added heat diffusers for even better heat control. Each Professional Griddle comes with the heat diffusers permanently attached to the underside. Also included with each griddle are high sides for easy food control, built-in grease management system with grease cup holder.